Wife Swap reality TV personality James Cuda, known to fans of the series as Princess, has passed away.
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Cuda was found dead inside a sober house in Pennsylvania, according to TMZ, citing Luzerne County Coroner Dion Fernandes.
Fernandes told the outlet that Cuda’s body was discovered on Aug. 30 inside a sober home in Wilkes-Barre. He added that no foul play was suspected. The Wife Swap personality’s cause of death is pending toxicology results, according to TMZ.
Cuda was 53.
According to TMZ, Cuda was featured in an infamous 2013 episode of Wife Swap. In it, Cuda, a gay nanny, was whisked away from Las Vegas to live on an Amish farm in Michigan. Reportedly, the Amish family immediately rejected Cuda, kicking him out of their home nearly the instant he arrived.
Wife Swap Castmate Mourns the Loss of James ‘Princess’ Cuda
Meanwhile, his fellow Wife Swap personality, Marissa Zdazinsky, paid tribute to her longtime friend in the wake of his death.
“The saddest moment of my life happened today. I learned he passed away,” Zdazinsky began in her Instagram post, writing alongside a series of candid shots featuring herself with Cuda over the years.
“Princess battled a growing alcohol addiction for the past 20 years, and we were friends,” she continued. He was one year sober last Sunday. My husband and I did everything humanly possible and necessary in the last few years to force him into getting sober.”
“It wasn’t easy, and Princess hid a secret of his declining and deteriorating condition with his organs,” Zdazinsky added. “I am in contact with his family in LA … it’s important that everyone knows that HE WAS sober, and he found God in his end days. We will miss him so much.”
“I don’t know what to say or think,” she concluded in th emotional post.
“I am so, so sorry. Thank you for sharing this and for sharing that he had also been sober,” one thoughtful fan wrote in the comments section. “Thank you for loving him so much and for helping him all of these years. Sending prayers, and so much love to you all.”
“I had seen your guys’ episode of Wife Swap, and it is one of my favorites, and I could tell just how much of a loving and caring person he was,” another fan added.
“This world is less fabulous without him.”